"Waves from the Deep" by Gina Kiel (New Zealand) highlights the iconic humpback whale, a celebrated success story within the world of marine conservation. During the 20th century, whaling practices had killed 200,000 humpback whales, reducing global populations by 90%. The moratorium on commercial whaling has allowed humpback whale populations to rebound to the point that its conservation status was downlisted to Least Concern by the IUCN in 2008.

Artist Statement

"A mixed media portrait of the young humpback whale photographed by PangeaSeed Foundation Founder, Tre' Packard, in the magical waters of the Kingdom of Tonga. Through the dissection of the whale, an internal forming wave of awareness is revealed. With a rising motion lifting the whale to the surface, this movement can lift the awareness of our current and future generations to realize the change that is needed for our oceans and the majestic beings that call it home."- Gina Kiel -

Artist Bio

Gina Kiel is an award-winning illustrator based in Wellington, New Zealand. She creates feminine yet strong images that exude sensuality and explore the human experience through ideas of life, death, spirituality and pop culture using flowing lines and forms and bold, minimal compositions with a psychedelic palette.

With a childhood full of music, nature, Disney movies and hours of drawing, Gina became an illustrator after working at a boutique animation company, drawing frame-by-frame at a lightbox, where she discovered her love for drawing body parts.

Gina can be found exhibiting at group shows around the world, creating at her home studio for awesome clients locally and internationally, tattooing, painting murals and working alongside Inject Design to create some of New Zealand's most iconic design work.